9/20/17

Let’s see, biggest news first… apparently the Pars Planitis is flaring back up again.  I’m really disappointed/discouraged because it’s only been a month since I got cleared after an entire month on hardcore steroids.  So I have another month of hardcore steroids to look forward to.  =(  The good news is they don’t know why I’m having problems with this as all my blood tests came back negative, so at least it’s not something BAD, but it seems to like to pop up when I really NEED my vision to be clear and not have a splitting migraine for days on end.  Oh well, back to the sweat fest that is steroids….  =(

The home reno project is coming along.  The fireplace is looking AWESOME, I can’t wait to post pics of it with the crown molding we’re currently doing up top.  Once this thing is painted and the stone is put it it’s going to look freaking amazing.  Wade is a serious genius.  The tile was supposed to be delivered today, but apparently the delivery guy decided to stack one pallet of it on top of the other, took a corner too fast, and the top pallet came crashing off of it and was completely destroyed.  Then they had to go get another pallet to replace that from another store…. THEN they apparently put all three pallets in the back room of the store and forgot to deliver it.  *sigh*  Ugh.  So SUPPOSEDLY the tile will get delivered tomorrow, but we’ll see.  We’re still on track to start install on Monday the 25th, and my next couple days will be clearing out all the stuff in the pantry, hall closet, and the stuff in the hutch and island so we can move all this furniture out of here.  Seriously, it’s like moving.  I hate moving. =/

I did manage to convince Wade that since we were moving the stove out of the kitchen ANYWAY to tile underneath it that I needed a new stove.  =)  I went out and bought a beaut today and I can’t wait for it to be delivered!  =P

The kiddos are doing great!  Tatum is doing AWESOME with her potty training.  The second we took the pressure off and decided we didn’t care and she could go at her own pace was the second she started being stellar at it!  She even asked to go to the potty tonight out at a restaurant and we had our first #2 away from the house/school.  Woot!!!  We may get her out of pull-ups yet!

We’re still struggling through the formula thing with Wyatt but it’s getting better and he’s still growing so I’m trying not to obsess over it as much as I have been.  My SIL says “Watch the baby, not the oz” and our pediatrician says the same.  That’s tough for me, but I’m trying!  Maybe he just has a better metabolism than the average baby?  =)

Some pictures to round out my post!  Enjoy!

OH! I almost forgot, made this “Inside Out Stuffed Pepper” recipe last night and it was super simple and VERY good!  I added Italian Seasonings to mine and a little extra tomato sauce, but it was Hanchar Fam approved, even by Tatum!!!

8/19/17

I’m just going to start with the pictures since I know that’s all anyone ever looks at anyway lol!

Had a pretty good day today!! Started the day with something exciting that I can’t talk about right now but it’s pretty big/good news from our perspective. We took Tatum to the grand opening event at Lonestar Mercantile this morning and MAN what a crowd!! Stacie and I had pretty good sales today and I’m excited for what is hopefully to come from the booth there!

After nap we had Avery’s third birthday party and Tatum had a blast! She loves playing with her friends! ❤️ Can’t wait for Tatum’s pony party next month, I think all the kiddos will flip over that one!!

Tomorrow we’re headed to the flea market for our monthly pony ride and kettle corn and then not really sure what we’ll do after that besides dinner with the fam! Hope everyone is having a great weekend so far!!

8/18/17

Momming hard this evening!

Wade got back from out of town about 11pm last night. As of right now, 8:30pm on Friday night he is approaching his 14th hour of working today and I am kind of single-parenting it. I just caught Tatum swinging from the bars of her carriage bed like a monkey, and Wyatt is restless and won’t sleep. Send alcohol, y’all, it’s getting real up in here.

Big news this week:

-I had my eye recheck with the specialist and as of right now the Pars Planitis seemed to respond great to the month of oral steroids and is now gone! Let’s Home it stays that way!!

-My booth has done pretty well its first 5 days of being open and I’ve made some really good sales!!! Really encouraged by this and hope it keeps up!!

I’ve had a lot of fun with my mom this week, she came over Tuesday to spend the week with me and the kids. She was such a huge help!! I’m really missing her a lot right now with Wade still stuck working. I’m hoping he doesn’t get screwed this weekend so we can have some family time! I promised Tatum we could go ride the ponies this weekend at the flea market and we have Avery’s birthday party tomorrow evening that she’s really looking forward to!

Someone partied a little too hard. 😜

On to the weekend!!!

8/9/17

Well…. I quit my job today.

It’s kind of a shock for me really, I’ve been managing that place for 9 years and it’s become, well, kind of “mine”.  But the time has come for me to try something new, and I really want to spend more time with my kiddos before they’re grown.  This is time with them I’ll never get back and I don’t want to miss out on it.  It was a really tough decision for me to make, but I’m confident it was the right one.  I’ll still fill in here and there for vacations and/or people calling in sick occasionally, but technically as of right now I’m officially unemployed, and it feels kind of weird.

I have to say though, the one thing I won’t miss?  Catering to these crazy-ass high maintenance dog owners every single day.  =)  I don’t think there’s a person in their right mind that would miss that, and it has honestly been wearing on my sanity for a while.  Don’t get me wrong, I loved my job and I loved *most* of my customers, and I loved my coworkers, but there’s that “Special” few, you know?  The absolute crazies.  =)  That’s who I won’t miss.

So this will start the new chapter on my new “Stay at Home Mom” lifestyle, and we’ll see how well I cope. =)  I’m looking forward to spending time with my new booth at Lonestar Mercantile and that’s something I can take the kids with me when I need to as I only really need to go up there to restock and rearrange (and shop!). I’m looking forward to trying new crafts and finally having time to put together those scrapbooks I’ve been putting off for years.  And I’m having fun meal planning and trying new recipes out as well!  I’ve been surprised so far at how full my days have been just with the tasks I give myself to do every day, and how quickly time passes during the day, so I’m hopeful I won’t go too stir crazy.  =)

So here’s to new adventures!  Onward and upward!  ❤

8/6/17

It's been a rough day today, full of sad, sick little kiddos. Tatum has run a 100-102 fever all day and when this afternoon after Tylenol (we've been alternating Tylenol/Motrin every three hours with little improvement) she started to head up past 104 instead of down we took her back to pediatric urgent care.

Who knew a urine specimen cup could be so amazing?

After a urine test and a chest X-ray we have a diagnosis of Bronchitis/Walking Pneumonia. 😢 They put her on a second antibiotic on top of the one she started last night, so hopefully things will start to look up. She's looked so sad and pitiful all day. 😦

Wyatt didn't have the best day either. I still can't decide if he's got the same virus Tatum started all this out with over a week ago (I hope not) or if it's because he seems to be stopped up again and hasn't pooped since Thursday evening. I guess tomorrow I'll be headed to the store at some point to get baby suppositories for him, which sounds like a blast….. literally.

We did get the last couple shelves installed at the booth at Lonestar and a couple clip lights to help brighten things up and now we just need Stacie's sign for Tick Tock Crafts and all her stuff loaded in there!! I'm really excited about opening day, and I have a bunch more stuff to make and take over there this week to be ready for it!

Headed off to bed as I negotiate the challenge of sick toddler home with newborn tomorrow. Wish me luck!!

8/2/17

My main goal today was to get up to Lonestar Mercantile and get my frames moved around so that normal height people can reach them, and I’m happy to say that not only did that get accomplished but a whole crapload of other stuff got done too!

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We still need to add Stacie’s stuff from Tick Tock Crafts, and I have some other things I’m making for opening like some fall/pumpkin themed stuff and more Allen High School spirit necklaces/jewelry, but so far I think it’s really coming along well!  Excited to share my love of crafts AND vintage (especially the PYREX!)

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Speaking of Pyrex, I finished off my Pink Gooseberry Refrigerator Dish set today!  Isn’t it GORGEOUS?  I really love the pink patterns, they’re really filling up my display cabinets too.  LOL!  And of course now there’s this huge surge in the Pyrex craze so I’m sure some of this stuff is going to start getting expensive to get my hands on! (Not like it isn’t already.)

Wyatt spent some time being unimpressed by me while I worked on my TO DO list for the day, but this afternoon with the weather being so nice we took a trip outside to look around.  I don’t think he was much impressed by that either, but at least it was a change of things to be unimpressed by.  *grin*

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And finally here’s a picture of my sad (but delicious) dinner that I ate by myself because Wade is still at work even though it’s almost 9:30pm.  Delicious Chicken Tacos I made with my amazing Crock Pot:

Crock-Pot 6-Quart Programmable Cook & Carry Slow Cooker with Digital Timer, Stainless Steel , SCCPVL610-S

Can you sense a theme with my cooking?  With a newborn (ok, I guess he’s an “infant” now that he’s over a month) in the house, I am ALL ABOUT the quick and easy.  I’ve been relying heavily on both my Crockpot and Instant Pot the last few weeks to get dinner made and on the table with a minimum of fuss, and since I was doing bedtime for both kids by myself tonight I was really relieved to have dinner done and ready to go.  Tatum even approves of this recipe!!

3-Ingredient Slow Cooker Taco Chicken

  • 2 lbs. boneless skinless chicken breasts (about 4 breast halves)
  • 1 tsp. medium-hot taco seasoning or 1 tbsp. mild taco seasoning (adjust to your desired spiciness – this is for mildly spicy)
  • 1 cup mild salsa
  • for serving: tortillas, shredded cheese, avocado or guacamole, tomatoes, additional salsa, etc.
Directions
  1. Place chicken in bottom of slow cooker. Sprinkle with taco seasoning. Spoon salsa on top of chicken and spread to cover chicken.
  2. Cook on low for 3-4 hours, or on high for 2 hours, until chicken is cooked through. Remove chicken to a plate to cool slightly, along with any salsa that is on top of the chicken. Shred with two forks or your fingers and place in a bowl. Stir in some of the liquid from the slow cooker, starting with ¼ cup and adding more as desired.
  3. Serve chicken in tortillas with toppings as desired.

7/28/17

Whew, rough day for Wyatt, but hopefully things will be looking up soon!

After his epic barfing yesterday I was somewhat prepared for the cluster that today's feedings have been. He's been getting progressively more fussy/grunty over the last couple days especially at night when he's laying flat, and so I was thinking we didn't have much longer until we'd probably have to try switching to Similac Alimentum. At his 5:15am feeding I got barfed all over with not much warning, and then poor Alli got soaked doing the 8:45 feeding. 😢 Poor kid was really restless and grumpy most of the afternoon and the only real time he fell asleep was after I wrapped him. I DID manage an awesome baby manicure this morning, so there's that! Take the small wins, right?

I practiced wrapping with him when he couldn't really get comfortable to go to sleep, and behold….. the WRAP NAP!!!

I love this wrap, it's "Pavo Lobsters Real" and it's gorgeous! The Carry is called FWCC (I have no idea what that stands for) and I'm going to try it tomorrow with a different wrap. It was surprisingly easy to achieve, so I was excited about that!

Got a lot done today since Wyatt was up so much it precluded a nap, so I got Divine Consign entered, more inventory made and entered for Lonestar, the guest/craft/office closet reorganized, helped a friend with some computer stuff, and generally just felt super productive. Go me! *pat on the back*

Then, we ruined it all by taking the kids out to dinner. Lol! Wyatt slept right through it but Tatum was a total PITA. She wasn't *bad* per-se but just really obnoxious and difficult. Remind me next time #SuperMom knows better than to take two kids under 3 out to dinner on a Friday night.

We started Wyatt on the alimentum two feedings ago, we'll see how this goes. I think I may also let him sleep in the Rock n Play tonight since the incline seems to help his comfort level. Hope some of that works because we're kind of running out of low-key options to try!!

Night all, until tomorrow!!!

7/26/17

Finally got some of my stuff moved in to my booth at Lonestar Mercantile! Really liking the way the chicken wire frames display my necklaces! Just need to keep on chugging with the inventory to be ready to open August 14!!

PS- I'm using some kind of beta publisher on my phone for WordPress so have no idea how big these pics are publishing. Apologies in advance if they're huge!!

Also, Baby Wyatt's newborn pics came in today as well AND I got his announcements ordered AND they're super cute and I'm super excited about them!!

Some of my favorites!! And of course, Tatum took over, but who is surprised by that? lol!!

To be fair, swinging around a bamboo stick with fish on it around a toddler and expecting them NOT to want it is completely unrealistic parenting, but hey, who is judging us, right?

Tomorrow I'm *hopefully* getting out of the house to meet a friend for lunch, and then it's back to my "Honey Do" list I made for myself that keeps getting longer and longer and… longer. 😜

7/23/17

Knew it was going to be a challenging day today after Tatum woke up, came out into the hallway, and promptly threw herself face down on the floor and began her morning of whining.  Good lord, the Drama Diva was totally in the house and on fire today!

Wade took her for a walk and then some playing outside with sidewalk chalk this morning while Wyatt and I spent the morning crafting.  For lunch Tatum announced she wanted HAM, so we went over to Honey Baked Ham.  This is where the real adventures started.

She was acting kind of funny when we first got there, but too late I recognized the signs of a poop coming.  I hustled her into the bathroom only to find the gift had already been given, and no changing table.  For real, people, WHO HAS BATHROOMS WITHOUT CHANGING TABLES ANYMORE?

So, I earned a SERIOUS “Mommy Badge” today for my successful, amazingly mess-free, STANDING poopy pull-up changing skills.  For real y’all.  A STANDING UP POOP CHANGE. I’m feeling pretty boss at this point.  #SuperMom strikes again.

AND….. AANNNNDDDD….. after that she ate ALL her ham.  Boom.  Mike Drop.  Yassss.

Naptime was short, but my head was full of ideas for my booth, so I didn’t sleep at all.  When everyone woke up I announced my plans to Wade and told him I wanted them done today.  He wasn’t super happy with me, but since I’ve been such a good housewife this week I think he humored me.  =)  We packed the kids up in the cars (he had to take Truck Norris to pick up the wood) and headed off to Home Depot and Lonestar Mercantile.

This is where “Bad Mood Betty” entered the picture.  Drama Diva didn’t have enough nap before she woke herself up, and so the mood in the mini-van was pretty intense.  Luckily, #SuperMom was prepared for such shenanigans and brought my trusty sidekick, iPad.

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We made it to the booth and Wade really busted his hump to get this thing done for me.  I think he really surprised even himself at how fast we accomplished such a task with TWO kids in tow.  Luckily I packed snacks, iPad, and when the native started to get restless improvised and built her a fort from my shelves that were waiting to go in the booth.  #SuperMom- 3, Bad Mood Betty- 0.  Woot Woot!

Tatum really did well for the hour and a half we were at Lonestar, so I promised her ice cream.  #SuperMom isn’t above bribes.  You work with the tools you’re given.

The booth turned out really good looking!  I can’t wait to get the finishing touches in and start loading it up with goodies for sale!  I have so many ideas swimming in my head it’s hard to keep them all straight, so I’ve started emailing them to myself as they come.  Needless to say, my email box is rather full.

We had another “funny” this evening when Tatum came back into our bedroom to give Wyatt his third goodnight hug.  She was standing over his Rock and Play about ready to bend down and hug him when he had a massive, noisy, gross, liquids-sounding poop.  It was loud and nightmarish sounding.  She totally stopped mid-stoop, looked up at me, and asked “What happened?”  I said “Baby Wyatt pooped, Honey.”

She stared at me for a second, looked down at him, straightened up, changed her mind about the hug, and quickly walked away.  I had a good laugh about that behind her back before she went to bed.  *grin*

Back to the regular grind of SAHM-hood tomorrow!  Need to get some of these To Do list things marked off!  ❤  Night all!